Artificials
by Valintyn Thoel
Summary: A year after playing the Guardian Angel's exterminators, the four Vault Hunters have disbanded to help Pandora in their own ways. Meanwhile, the Atlas Corporation's latest experiments have created a new brand of soldier, Artificial Sirens. After the failure of the Crimson Lance in taking down our heroes, Atlas wants to settle the score, and they have just the right tools to do so.
1. Siren's Fall

**Author's Note and stuff:**

I guess this story could be classified as an AU (Alternate Universe). New-U stations do not exist. Borderlands 2 will most likely conflict with anything I've written. Commander Steele was a Siren, for the sake of this story.

Also, as school is coming up in about a month for me, I might update constantly until it's start, but then slow down. Or I may discontinue this. I'm tackling this story with little more than a basic plan and fleshing it out as I go.

But you can avoid discontinuation, by sending me criticism if I mucked up somewhere, or nice, happy thoughts if you enjoyed the read.

Enough about this silly AN stuff. To the story!**  
**

* * *

Pandora... A year has passed since the incidents that took place with the infamous Lilith, Roland, Brick and Mordecai. While the four of them still maintain communications, relying on one another whenever new problems arise, they generally keep to themselves.

Mordecai has become a hitman of sorts, helping smaller settlements rid themselves of the many bandit factions sprouting up around the lands. Roland, the Ex-Crimson Lance soldier has taken it upon himself to bring the mercenaries of Pandora together as one organization meant to help anybody who needs it. Brick still scours the land for any signs of his missing sister, taking out any tough sonuva' bitch dumb enough to stand between him and his family.

Lilith, on the other hand, hasn't quite found a goal to motivate her. All this time spent on Pandora has drained her in the respect that she hadn't found who she'd been searching for. The only lead, Commander Steele, had been killed before Lilith could get any answers from her. Distraught, she took to simply wandering the badlands, taking the smaller jobs that pop up at the bounty boards to support herself.

The four Vault Hunters had finally found some normality in their new lives on Pandora... If only the remnants of the Atlas Corporation cared.

* * *

Aelwyn sat alone on the ridge, legs dangling over the edge with a rifle at his side. He pulled an old, scratched up pair of binoculars to his tired eyes and scanned the camp below for the umpteenth time this hour, switching between thermal and lowlight views to see through the night and the environment hiding away his prey.

Again, she hadn't shown. He set the binoculars down, right beside his rifle, and reached into the pocket of his combat vest to pull out a piece of metal no thicker than the average pencil. Pushing his nail into the divot, he pulled at the frame and it pulled apart, a holographic screen spanning from one piece of metal to the next. It quickly loaded the file he'd recently opened, a list of bounties from the Fyrestone Board and the names of those who had signed up for them.

"She's doing them in the order received," he noted, as the names of bounties his target had signed up for faded to gray on the list. "This one's next..."

With one hand, he pushed the data-pad closed against the ground, stowing it away. He pushed himself up and surveyed the area, smiling slightly as he noticed the headlights of a runner drawing closer. He picked up his rifle, lay on his belly and rested the barrel of his rifle in a crack on the ridge.  
He waited, letting the lights of the runner fade out as his supposed mark jumped out of the driver's seat. He waited as she pulled a camouflaged sub-machine gun from her hip, running to the gate. His eyes never left her as she started tearing through the bandits' ranks. She was easy to follow in the crowds, as her high-risk combat style had her peppered with rounds with every skirmish, lighting her up as her shield reflected the bullets.

As she drew closer to the leader, hidden away at the center of the camp, Aelwyn pulled a pair of Longbow grenades from his SDU, laying them down on the lip of the ridge on either side of him. The fight lasted seconds, as she ran in with what he suspected to be an Anarchy with how quickly she gunned down her opposition.

When his target began rifling through the bandit leader's belongings, Aelwyn put his plan into action. Adjusting the Longbows' orientations slightly, he clicked them both to life. They shot out into the air, fell to the ground and exploded in a maelstrom of fire and shrapnel at the only two gates of the camp, destroying the mechanisms holding the makeshift gates suspended in the air. They fell closed, trapping his mark in place.

Her head darted up like the prey she'd become, turning every which way to find the origin of the attack. Finding nothing she could immediately fight back, she took to vanishing in a puff of light.

"Called it," Aelwyn mumbled, taking his eye from the scope to scan for another burst of light. It came but a moment later, coming from behind a Bandit runner. He clicked the release, letting the current shells eject. He took an incendiary round from his side and filled the sniper's chambers with hollow point rounds, save for the top chamber, which he instead placed an incendiary round. Clicking it back into place, he took aim.

He pierced the Runner's exposed fuel tank, the round flying from one side of the tank to the next. Gasoline sprayed from the sides as the fire and heat forced its way from the bullet holes. Lilith tumbled back, covered in petrol and starting to light up as the flames crawled up her legs. She rolled around, trying to help her shield extinguish the flames. As she rolled farther into the open, Aelwyn took another shot, sending a hollow round into her side. It pierced the remainder of her shield and collapsed inside of her. She screamed, loud enough for him to understand the slew of curses she let out.

Satisfied with the damage he'd done, and how she seemed adequately incapacitated, he stood up, slinging the rifle over his shoulder. He stepped forward, over the edge, and let himself drop.

Before he hit the ground, he threw his arms out, catching himself in a translucent bubble of energy. He moved around, no easy task with the weightlessness the field gave him, and ended the field when he was feet first. He landed softly, padding forward casually towards his target.

She had gotten up, injecting a temporary medical salve into the wound and staggering away. She tripped, falling into a waist-high trench the bandits had dug up. When Aelwyn finally found his way to her, she was lying on her back, in a ditch, holding her hands over the wounds. Her clothes were scorched, the ends frayed. He stood at the edge of the trench, looking down at her with a devilish smile.

"Fucking coward," she spat out, followed by a pained cough.

"Lilith Cashlin... Not as extraordinary as they made you out to be. Or maybe they trained us to well."

"Us?"

"You needn't worry about that now," he said, pulling a revolver from his hip and taking aim. Her shields were slowly replenishing, but weren't yet at a point a revolver round, point blank, wouldn't tear right through them. As she closed her eyes, accepting her fate, a gun fired. She lay there, teeth clenched and eyes shut as tight as she could keep them.

'Nothing?' she asked herself inwardly. 'I didn't feel a thing...' She lay in darkness for what felt like hours. Despite what she assumed to be her death, her side still ached and her legs still tensed every time she moved the burnt flesh. She felt a hand reaching out, grabbing her own and pulling her up. Another hand grabbed her side, and suddenly she felt her world flip around. After a moment, she finally mustered the courage to open her eyes.

She was staring down a man's back, a man different than her assassin. He moved at a brisk pace; fast enough to be rid of the camp, slow enough not to jostle her too much. The rocking she felt with each step slowly lulled her into a deep sleep, her last sight being of a masked face and a flock of rakk circling overhead.


	2. Awakening

**Author's Note:** It's weird fleshing out the Borderlands characters, as all you really get for them is a basic background and some quotes as they butcher various enemies around Pandora. Lilith was always rather abrasive, it seemed, especially from her dialogue with the Runners in-game. Hopefully as I add more, she'll become less like a sexy-poster-girl-diva and more like a somewhat likeable character. Cheers!

Enjoy today's early update!

* * *

Lilith's awakening wasn't the greatest she'd ever had. Though her eyes burned when she found herself face-to-face with a Pandoran sun, midday, her sore limbs refused to move for her, and she could smell a myriad of burnt flesh, petrol and bile, nothing could compare to the pain that rattled her insides when she tried to sit up. She became dead weight, back hitting the ground as soon as the pain in her side flared to life.

Carefully, she turned her head and took in what little of the environment she could. Looking up, she could see the camp she'd raided not even a mile away. Looking to her sides she could see the remainder of a fire pit, the bones of a small animal, charred and picked clean, as well as a lain out bedroll. She replayed the night's events in her head, muddled images coming to her mind's eye as she closed her eyes.

Though the night had become a haze to her, one thing did remain crystal clear; those cold, yellow eyes. "Just like mine..." she said lowly, stuck on the image of Aelwyn staring down at her, grinning like a psycho. Suddenly, a hand reached out to her, peeling away the fabric over her wounds. Something sharp pierced her skin before fading away in a feeling of ice water rinsing through her veins. Her consciousness began slipping, but she didn't care so long as the pain went with it.

What felt like an instant later, she awoke to a setting sun and a small fire burning in the pit she'd seen before. As the days on Pandora spanned little over 90 hours, she realised she'd been sleeping on and off far longer than she liked to. Risking another jolt to of pain, she forced herself into sitting position. A mix of surprise and relief came to her as the pains that ailed her body had faded since she last stirred.

Turning to the fire, she saw a black-haired man seated on the other side, his back turned to her. He had a hand to his ear, talking into what she guessed to be an older ECHO communications variant meant to be worn, rather than implanted. She crawled closer, her movements strained but quiet enough he didn't seem to notice as she eavesdropped on his conversation.

"Target last seen heading for New Haven, likely to help local mercenary groups fend off raiders and bandit factions. Utilising ECHO devices scavenged from various Hyperion personnel, the groups have become more organised," the man said. 'Target?' Lilith thought. 'I will tear these shi-'

Her thoughts were cut off as a voice replied on the channel. She could just barely hear the man through the headset from where she sat. "No luck tracking the bitch. You sure she's heading that way?"

The soldier before her turned slightly, eyeing Lilith with a golden iris. "Got my eyes on her right now, Mikeal," he said with a wink. "Heading straight to New Haven, following the southern trail."

"Alright, Rook. Sending Bishop and Kira in. Report back if anything changes," Mikeal said over the line, signing off with a click.

The soldier, Rook, pulled the headset away and threw it into the fire, pulling out a datapad and typing out a line of commands. He opened a file concerning the status of the members of his squadron, nodding once he was sure his tracker was destroyed and name listed as KIA. He turned himself around on his makeshift stool, crossing his arms and looking her over.

"I want answers," Lilith said, narrowing her eyes.

"Shoot," he replied tersely.

"Who the fuck are you guys, how did you find me, and tell me why I shouldn't flay you apart..." she barked out, gathering energy around her form for a menacing glow.

He laughed. He laughed at her attempt at intimidation, and it only made her angrier than she already was at the situation. "Atlas Corp. Sirens. We tracked your ECHO implants. As for 'flaying me apart,' you're in no condition." Her eyes widened at the mention of others like her. She needed to know more.

"Sirens are only ever female..." she said matter-of-factly. She'd only ever heard of female sirens.

"That's true, concerning natural Sirens... We're Atlas' pet project. Artificial sirens, genetically altered." She stared at him incredulously, garnering another chuckle from the man. Lilith fell silent, eyes to the ground and head in the clouds. He broke her daze by twisting around and reaching into a rucksack behind him, pulling out a pack of military rations and putting the case before her. "Eat up. We move in ten," he put simply.

She forced herself to stand, fighting the vertigo that came with the feat to grab his arm. He looked back at her. "Why are you doing this?" she asked in a hush. He pulled away, stating "Reasons," and went to put out the fire.

* * *

True to his word, Rook came up behind her moments later with his pack and guns strapped to his combat armor. He chuckled lowly, eyed the case that had been full only minutes ago. "Are you ready?"

"I smell like a corpse," Lilith stated, crinkling her nose. Rook sighed, extending his hand to her and helping her up.

"We're heading to one of the old Excavation outposts. With any luck, the showers are still in working order..."

"They'd better," Lilith muttered, dusting herself off. He starting marching off as soon as she was up, giving her no time to dawdle. He led her in a beeline through the rocky plains, either to avoid notice from the local beasts or his former-squadron. Either way, it was a long and boring fast march, and they were only halfway to their destination an hour later. Lilith feared the likelihood of dying at the hands of boredom was equal to her chances of dying of exhaustion.

Eventually, Lilith had to break the silence. "Rook." She said with a tone hinting towards another round of questions. He glanced back to her, never breaking pace. "Uh-huh?"

"Is that really your name?" she asked. "I used to think Brick has a stupid name, but at least his suits him."

"No," he answered curtly.

"Then what is your name?" She pressed. He didn't answer. She fumed, asking again. Rook ignored the question once more.

"Oooh," she said, mimicking a ghost. "You're so fucking mysterious. Fine, then..." she sighed, thinking of what else to ask. "Why are you defecting from the Atlas Corp.?"

"A conflict in values."

"Can you elaborate?"

"I see Atlas for what is really is," he said, stopping to pull out a datapad with a map of the area.

"Which is..?" Lilith further inquired.

"An organisation hell bent on revenge, even if that means throwing thousands of men and women to their deaths, even though it's their fault the problems arose..." Rook answered, slapping the datapad closed and continuing on the trail. "We're almost there."

"By your standards or mine?"

"Depends. Your standards are?"

"I want to bathe and change right now, or I'm going to snap," she groaned. As if on cue, they rose to the top of a hill and found themselves staring down at a fenced off facility. The inside was barren, looking to have been abandoned a long time ago. As she peered down, Rook got right to sliding down the steep, sandy hill. She grudgingly followed his lead.


End file.
